Fraud

Tony Devenish: For each of the years Nov 16 to Oct 17, Nov 17 to Oct 18 and Nov 18 to Oct 19, please can you provide how many cases of fraud has the Met dealt with? Please provide a breakdown by fraud type.

The Mayor: Since April 2013, the recording of fraud has been the sole responsibility of Action Fraud. Therefore, it is not possible to provide the requested information.
Action Fraud has published regional Fraud Profiles for each police force across England and Wales for the financial year 2018/19. The Metropolitan profile is available via the following link:https://data.actionfraud.police.uk/cms/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Metropolitan-Police_fraud-2019.pdf

Met Police staff from other countries

Andrew Dismore: How many a) warranted officers b) civilian staff and c) special constables presently employed by the Metropolitan Police are nationals of other EU countries?

The Mayor: As of the end of October 2019, there were 762 police officers, 207 staff, 38 PCSO’s and 118 special constables employed by the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) who are nationals of other EU countries.

UK Modern Slavery Helpline (1)

Unmesh Desai: There have been reports that the UK modern slavery helpline is at risk of closure due to a lack of funds (https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/modern-slavery-brexit-uncertainty-helpline-unseen-trafficking-funding-a9107106.html). Does MOPAC provide any funding to the helpline?

The Mayor: As this is a national helpline, my Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime and other Police and Crime Commissioners across the country have argued strongly that the Home Office should fund the helpline in full. In the absence of this, MOPAC has made a financial contribution of £10,000 to the charity Unseen, who run the helpline. This has helped prevent the immediate closure of the helpline and ensure it can continue its vital work in helping victims and police forces across the country.

Metropolitan Police Cyber Attacks

Susan Hall: What are you doing to protect the metropolitan police from cyber attacks?

The Mayor: It is for the police to protect their systems from cyber attacks. The MPS has a number of security tools, these are supplemented by a number of partners providing security monitoring, testing and assurance services. A dedicated team within Digital Policing identify and model cyber risks, assure supplier activities and recommend investment in additional controls where required. The Cyber Crime unit provides input into the risk landscape and conducts some internal testing and challenge. Whilst there will always be threats that cannot be prevented, the MPS successfully defends itself against a large volume of attacks each year.

Embedded Youth Workers

Jennette Arnold: You recently invested £4m to embed more youth workers in hospitals to help divert young people away from crime. Would schools also benefit from this model, to take some of the pressure off teachers and Safer Schools Officers?

The Mayor: Research has shown that young people excluded from mainstream education are at significantly greater risk of becoming involved in or affected by serious youth violence.
That’s why London’s VRU is investing £4.7m in a package of measures to support schools to reduce exclusions and support young Londoners with the most complex needs. This will fund programmes in schools in areas that have seen high levels of serious youth violence and will help equip teachers and staff to identify and support young people at risk of violence. There will also be support for young people in building healthy relationships through peer-support and workshops, and additional specialist support where needed.
After-school provisions will be provided for secondary school pupils in high-crime areas as we know that violence is more likely to happen at the end of the school day, and vulnerable young people in these areas will be supported in their transition from primary to secondary school – a period of time when they may be more likely to be exploited.
Through my Young Londoners Fund many projects, including Stepping Stones, provide youth work support in schools.

Turnover of Commanders in Borough Command Units

Siân Berry: Could you provide details about the turnover of Commanders in each of the Metropolitan Police Service Borough Command Units (BCUs), since new dedicated posts were introduced: a) the average length of service for a Commander for each BCU, b) the total number of Commander changes for each of the BCUs that have occurred, and c) the total number of post-weeks for which Commander posts in BCUs have been unstaffed?

The Mayor: The table below shows the appointment of the first Commander in each BCU and any changes that have subsequently taken place up to September 2019.
Ordinarily, the expectation is that BCU Commander postings are for a period of 2-years, though this is not always possible given individual circumstances and operational needs.
Note BCU commanders were typically appointed several months before the formal BCU launch date. This was to allow the leadership to become established and was a key point of learning from the original BCU pathfinders.
Boroughs
BCU
BCU Launch date
BCU Commander/s
Camden
Islington
Central North Command Unit
Jan 17
Catherine Roper, Jan 17 – January 18
[Catherine was previously Islington Borough Commander, a post she held since March 2015]
Nick Davies (interim)
Iain Raphael, April 18 – December 18
Raj Kohli, December 18 – present
Havering
Redbridge
Barking and Dagenham
East Area Command Unit
Jan 17
Jason Gwillim, Jan 17 – May 2019
[Jason was previously Havering Borough Commander, a post he held from Jan 2013]
Steve Clayman, May 2019 – present
Richmond
Kingston
Merton
Wandsworth
South West Command Unit
June 18
Sally Benatar
[Sally was previously Kingston Borough Commander, from Nov 17]
Ealing
Hillingdon
Hounslow
West Area Command Unit
June 18
Paul Martin
[Paul was previously Ealing Borough Commander, a post he held from 2015]
Waltham Forest
Newham
North East Command Unit
Oct 18
Richard Tucker
[Richard was previously Waltham Forest Borough Commander, a post he held since 2015]
Hackney
Tower Hamlets
Central East Command Unit
Oct 18
Sue Williams, Oct 18 – Aug 19
[Sue was previously Tower Hamlets Borough Commander, a post she held since 2015]
Marcus Barnett, Aug – present
Harrow
Brent
Barnet
North West Command Unit
Nov 18
Simon Rose, Nov 18 – March 19
[Simon was previously Barnet Borough Commander, a post he held since 2016]
Sara Leach, March 19 – present
Lewisham
Greenwich
Bexley
South East Command Unit
Nov 18
Simon Dobinson
[Simon was previously Greenwich Borough Commander, a post he held since 2016]
Haringey
Enfield
North Area Command Unit
Jan 19
Helen Millichap, Jan 19 – April 19
[Helen was previously Haringey Borough Commander, a post she held from 2016]
Treena Fleming, April 19 – present
Lambeth
Southwark
Central South Command Unit
Jan 19
Simon Messinger
[Simon was previously Southwark Borough Commander, a post he held since 2016]
Kensington & Chelsea
Westminster
Hammersmith & Fulham
Central West Command Unit
Feb 19
Rob Jones
[Rob has been in post since Jan 18]
Bromley
Croydon
Sutton
South Area Command Unit
Feb 19
Jeff Boothe, Croydon Borough Commander since 2016, acted as BCU commander for much of the preparation period in 2018.
Dave Stringer, Nov 18 – present

Extinction Rebellion (6)

Peter Whittle: Do you still regard Extinction Rebellion as, to use your word, 'Allies'?

The Mayor: This matter was discussed at recent policing plenary. I refer you to these discussions https://www.london.gov.uk/london-assembly-plenary-2019-10-31

Extinction Rebellion (5)

Peter Whittle: How much did the demonstrations and disruption by Extinction Rebellion in London in October 2019 cost London's economy?

The Mayor: As of 8th November 2019, no assessment has been made on the full cost to the economy of the XR autumn uprising.

Cost of protests in 2019

Unmesh Desai: Please could you provide us the cost to the Met of policing protests in the calendar years 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 to date?

The Mayor: As well as major events, protests are often managed by local policing teams as part of their general policing duties, hence it is not possible to provide a complete breakdown of these costs for all protests.  When major protests take place, an application to the Home Office for special grant to fund the costs is considered and where possible the additional costs are recovered. As the seat of the UK Government, London is a centre of protest and yet the Home Office continue to underfund the National and International Capital City grant by £160 million per year.

Operation Snow Bunting

Unmesh Desai: Have you and the Met Police been provided with details of the Government’s ‘No Deal’ Policing planning document, ‘Operation Snow Bunting’? If so, when were you provided with this?

The Mayor: I have not been provided with details of the government’s no deal policing planning document. I have repeatedly encouraged the Government to make public all of their Brexit planning material as a reassurance to the public that mitigation is in place or that there are serious gaps that remain. I support the publication of all information that can help the police, the public and other agencies plan better for the effects of Brexit, with any information that is operationally sensitive being shared with the agencies that need to see them.
The MPS, including AC Neil Basu and DAC Richard Martin in particular, have been very closely engaged with the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) lead, Chief Constable Martin Hewitt and government partners to understand and prepare contingencies for potential risks relating to Brexit. This includes scenarios where joint working between agencies could be required.
I remain deeply concerned about the potential loss of policing tools that would result from a no-deal Brexit - this is one of many compelling reasons why a no-deal scenario must be avoided.

Operation Midland

Peter Whittle: To ask the Mayor, at what point did the Metropolitan Police decide to adopt, especially with regard to sexual offences, an approach of what in my view, appears to be ‘always believe the victim’?

The Mayor: I know how important it is for victims to feel supported and listened to, and that the allegations they make are treated seriously, recorded properly and thoroughly investigated by the police.
The job of the police is to investigate fairly, impartially and with an open mind to establish the facts.

Police Numbers

Gareth Bacon: Do you think you have done everything you can to maximise the number of police on London’s streets?

The Mayor: Yes, I have used the maximum flexibility made available to me by the Government in terms of council tax funding for the MPS. I have taken the difficult decisions to increase the police precept and have increased business rates funding for the MPS.
This has provided an additional £234 million for policing and tackling violent crime in the capital, allowing the MPS to recruit over 1,300 more officers than would otherwise have been affordable by the end of this year.
I have restored real neighbourhood policing, increasing Dedicated Ward Officers (DWOs) by over 600 and ensuring that every ward is assigned two DWOs and a Police Community Support Officer (PCSO). I have relentlessly lobbied the Government to reverse their damaging cuts and properly fund the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS).
It seems that in its dying days, the previous Government finally agreed with me that the cuts have gone too far and the Prime Minister announced an additional 20,000 officers nationally. But I still await confirmation of London’s final share of these new officers and for confirmation of the funding that London will receive to pay for this.

Small business rate relief (1)

Navin Shah: You can get smallbusinessrate relief if your property’s rateable value is less than £15,000 (You will not paybusinessrates on a property with a rateable value of £12,000 or less. For properties with a rateable value of £12,001 to £15,000, the rate of relief will go down gradually from 100% to 0%) and yourbusinessonly uses one property. How manybusinessescurrently benefit from this relief? Please break down by borough.

The Mayor: The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) publishes statistics on the number of non-domestic properties (hereditaments) in receipt of small business rate relief (SBRR) in each local authority. The most recent statistics are as at 31 December 2018 and therefore represent a ‘snapshot’ at that date. The number of hereditaments is not necessarily the same as the number of businesses that benefit from the relief, as, in some circumstances, business rate payers are entitled to SBRR for more than one property. The attached table shows the number of hereditaments benefiting from SBRR in each billing authority in Greater London, as at 31 December 2018. In total 59,868 hereditaments with a rateable value of up to £12,000 received a 100% discount and 9,826 hereditaments with a rateable value between £12,001 and £15,000 received a discount between 0% and 100%.

Drug charges 2

Andrew Boff: Breaking down the data down by year since 2015/16, how many people who have been charged with possessing an illegal drug have been convicted, by drug type and month?

The Mayor: The MPS is unable to answer this question as it does not hold convictions data. Convictions are the result of a court process and the data is held by the Ministry of Justice.

Controlling and Coercive Behaviour

Unmesh Desai: How many people were successfully prosecuted in London for offences including Controlling or Coercive Behaviour in an Intimate or Family Relationship in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 to date?

The Mayor: The requested data is likely to be held on the CPS Case Management System.The MPS do not hold prosecution data.

Sex offences 3

Susan Hall: For each of the years Nov 16 to Oct 17, Nov 17 to Oct 18 and Nov 18 to Oct 19, please can you provide the of instances of exposure under section 66 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003?

The Mayor: I'maware of the troubling volume of recorded offences in this category. My Office for Policing and Crime have begun work which seeks to analyse this information alongside harassment data to help us gather an intelligence picture of where women are more likely to be vulnerable, and in turn, where perpetrators of such behaviour can be targeted most effectively.
Please see the attached for the data requested.

Animal cruelty

Tony Devenish: For each of the years Nov 16 to Oct 17, Nov 17 to Oct 18 and Nov 18 to Oct 19, please can you provide how many animal cruelty reports have the Met dealt with in each year? Please provide a breakdown by offence type.

The Mayor: The Government's National Recording Standards have required that animal cruelty is not notifiable, therefore the MPS does not hold any data on this as an offence type.

Judicial outcomes for collision investigations

Caroline Russell: Further to question 2018/0986, will the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) publish details on the judicial outcomes for all collision investigations on its website now, and on an ongoing basis?

The Mayor: The Strategy and Governance team within the MPS are in the process of reviewing what public facing information can be published in relation to case disposal decisions taken in reported collisions. Whilst COPA Traffic does provide improved reporting capability, the system does not have the ability to report judicial outcomes following a charge. The team will be looking to publish data regarding collisions and outcomes in early 2020.

Extinction Rebellion (4)

Peter Whittle: How much did the demonstrations and disruption by Extinction Rebellion in London in October 2019 cost the police?

The Mayor: As of the 30th October 2019, the cost to the MPS stands at just over £24 million. However, final costs will be completed over the next several weeks.

Met firearms operation

Susan Hall: For each of the years Nov 16 to Oct 17, Nov 17 to Oct 18 and Nov 18 to Oct 19, please can you provide the number of Met firearms operations, broken down by planned and spontaneous?

The Mayor: Please see the table below:

Sickness absence

Unmesh Desai: Please provide the total percentage of days lost to the Met due to sickness absence in 2019 so far. (This information is being sought to estimate the number of days lost due to long term absence).

The Mayor: In the 9months from January to September 2019, 4 per centof available officer days were lost to sickness.
Note the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) defines Long Term Sickness as being off for 28 or more days. The percentage provided does not differentiate between long and short term sick, neither would it be possible to do so from MPS systems.

Custody services

Unmesh Desai: How does the Met’s custody services meet demand for cell space when protests or events result in a high number of individuals being arrested?

The Mayor: The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) custody estate is specifically designed to cope with fluctuating demand and high-volume events. It comprises of several core custody suites and a number of contingency suites.
The MPS has an established process for activating these additional contingency suites during times of high demand.
The MPS also adheres to the National Custody Principles that seek to only use custody when necessary. Where appropriate the MPS makes use of non-custodial options when progressing its investigations.

Public Works Loan Board

Len Duvall: What is your assessment of the impact of the Public Works Loan Board interest increase on the GLA family’s capital investment ambitions?

The Mayor: The PWLB margin increase, though an unwelcome complication, is expected to have a limited impact on the overall cost of borrowing for the GLA Group. The largest borrowers, TfL and the GLA, already have access to other sources of finance that offer better value for money than the current PWLB’s certainty rate, and the GLA’s shared service is well placed to deliver similar solutions to the other parts of the Group. To the extent that we still use PWLB to meet part of the group borrowing requirement, our interest costs will increase. We do not anticipate an immediate impact on our capital plans, which contain prudent provision for interest rate fluctuations, albeit that such movements were anticipated to arise from wider market forces, rather than discretionary increases in central government’s lending margin.

999 response to “I Calls” in Enfield & Haringey

Joanne McCartney: Can you tell me the response times to 999 “I Calls” in Enfield & Haringey by month from May 2018?

The Mayor: Please see the table below for average I Call response times between 01/05/2018 - 31/10/2019 in Enfield and Haringey.
The Metropolitan Police Service’s (MPS) own target is to respond to 90 per centof I Calls within 15mins.
Average of Response times
Boroughs
Month/Year
Enfield
Haringey
May 2018
0:12:26
0:11:26
June 2018
0:11:22
0:11:05
July 2018
0:12:25
0:12:50
August 2018
0:11:43
0:09:60
September 2018
0:12:11
0:10:30
October 2018
0:12:08
0:11:05
November 2018
0:11:53
0:10:57
December 2018
0:11:07
0:10:39
January 2019
0:11:45
0:10:53
February 2019
0:11:34
0:11:04
March 2019
0:12:33
0:10:20
April 2019
0:11:56
0:10:51
May 2019
0:12:19
0:11:48
June 2019
0:12:31
0:10:51
July 2019
0:12:13
0:10:18
August 2019
0:11:56
0:11:25
September 2019
0:12:33
0:11:19
October 2019
0:14:40
0:11:47
Grand Total
0:12:11
0:11:05

999 Response to “S Calls” in Enfield & Haringey

Joanne McCartney: Can you tell me the response times to 999 “S Calls” in Enfield & Haringey by month from May 2018?

The Mayor: Please see the table below for average S call response times between 01/05/2018 - 31/10/2019 in Enfield and Haringey.
Average of Response Time
Borough
Month/Year
Enfield
Haringey
May 2018
0:49:20
1:23:12
June 2018
1:05:34
1:38:35
July 2018
0:51:59
1:39:13
August 2018
0:50:26
1:05:10
September 2018
1:00:43
1:10:22
October 2018
1:05:40
1:13:06
November 2018
0:56:24
1:10:53
December 2018
0:50:49
1:11:58
January 2019
0:57:20
0:56:37
February 2019
1:01:54
1:10:49
March 2019
1:12:46
1:11:21
April 2019
1:04:04
1:09:01
May 2019
1:01:21
1:54:06
June 2019
1:20:16
1:34:32
July 2019
1:01:50
1:31:50
August 2019
1:27:46
1:17:02
September 2019
1:14:47
2:08:23
October 2019
1:34:30
1:48:46
Grand Total
1:03:56
1:23:52

Support for victims of rape and sexual assault disclosure in relation to mobile phones (1)

Fiona Twycross: In 2019 so far, how many people (both as a number and as percentage) who report an alleged rape or sexual assault have their phones removed?

The Mayor: The Metropolitan Police Service does not hold this precise data. It would not be proportionate to examine every rape and sexual assault crime report to estimate this.

Extinction Rebellion (3)

Peter Whittle: To ask the Mayor what lessons have been learned by the Metropolitan Police from the activities of Extinction Rebellion in October 2019?

The Mayor: The Commissioner spoke in depth at the Policing Plenary about the police response to the Extinction Rebellion protests in October 2019.
To improve police response even further, the Metropolitan Police Service is looking into how they can respond faster to pending disruptions and how they can work closer with Londoners to solve disruptions quicker once they have begun.
Following the high court ruling, I will be seeking further assurances from the Met that it will learn lessons from this to ensure that future decisions are robust and that they will continue to uphold the right to peaceful and lawful protest.

Guns recovered by the Met

Susan Hall: For each of the years Nov 16 to Oct 17, Nov 17 to Oct 18 and Nov 18 to Oct 19, please can you provide the number of guns recovered by the Met?

The Mayor: Please see the table below:
The supplied data refers to ‘guns’ recovered within the MPS for the periods requested. It does NOT include prohibited firearms such as electric discharge devices or noxious sprays. The data will include ‘guns’ that are NOT defined as lethal barrelled firearms.
Only firearms which meet the NaBIS submission criteria will be submitted to the Met Police Service Forensic Firearms Unit. (MPSFFU). The role of the Firearms Recovery Officers (FRO) is to assess the recoveries made on the MPS Boroughs and request that the items which need submitting to the MPSFFU are submitted and the remaining items recorded appropriately.
Guns that would be assessed that would be guns, but not sent to the lab would include the following: where there is no belief that any criminal activity is involved – such a found in loft/found under floor boards during refurb – clearing out elderly deceased house – handed in with expired license. These can be blank firers, antique, de-activated (with no signs or suspicion of attempts to activate), toy, replica, air guns etc

Hate Crime

Keith Prince: For each of the years Nov 16 to Oct 17, Nov 17 to Oct 18 and Nov 18 to Oct 19, please can you provide how many hate crimes against particular faiths have been reported, broken down by religion and month? Of those crimes, how many have led to a successful prosecution, broken down by religion and month?

The Mayor: The data table in response to the MQ is attached. The MPS is unable to provide conviction data.

Preparing Evidence for Domestic Abuse cases

Unmesh Desai: Are the Met’s officers trained on how to best collect and present evidence to provide to the Crown Prosecution Service for Domestic Abuse offences?

The Mayor: All police officers are instructed and trained in investigative techniques, including the collection and presentation of evidence.
Within Safeguarding Units, detectives responsible for Domestic Abuse (DA) cases are trained to a higher standard of investigation, Professionalising Investigative Programme (PIP) 2 accreditation, with advanced (Tier 2) suspect interview training and Achieving Best Evidence (ABE) victim, witness and child interview training.
In addition, the Continuous Policing Improvement Command DA Team and Detective Training School, in conjunction with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), have produced training packages and Continuous Professional Development (CPD) days specifically around the collection and presentation of DA evidence to the CPS.
Finally, guidance is also clearly explained by the CPS in video tutorials available on the intranet to all officers at any time.

Night-time economy sex attacks

Andrew Boff: For each of the years Nov 16 to Oct 17, Nov 17 to Oct 18 and Nov 18 to Oct 19, please can you provide a monthly breakdown of the number of sexual assaults and rapes reported at London’s clubs, bars and pubs?

The Mayor: Please refer to the attached spreadsheet.

Moped Crime

Unmesh Desai: Please could you provide a breakdown of the total number of Moped crimes committed in the calendar years 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 to date?

The Mayor: Please see the attached table covering the periodfrom 1 January 2016 to 31 October 2019.

Strategy Consultation (1)

Susan Hall: Can you list the charitable and third sector groups you consulted when producing your Violence Against Women & Girls Strategy?

The Mayor: For the Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy my officers undertook the biggest in-depth consultation with survivors as well as Londoners, police and partners.
There were 12 consultation workshops on evidence and data sharing, female offenders, BAME, perpetrators, prevention, enforcement, support for victims, prostitution, harmful practices, priority boroughs plus a roundtable with survivors and another with partners and stakeholders. The following organisations were consulted with as part of the development of the strategy:
Advance Charity, Afruca, Agenda (Alliance for Women & Girls at risk) , Ava Project, Beyond The Streets, Clean Break, Clinks, Commonweal Housing, Domestic Violence Intervention Project, EVAW, Forward UK, Galop, Havens - Survivors of Abuse Network, Hibiscus Initiatives, Housing for Women, IKWRO, IMKAAN, Jewish Womens Aid, Nia Ending Violence, Pecan, Prison Reform Trust, Rape Crisis South London, Respect, Respond, Rise Mutual, Safe Lives, Safer London, Sign Health, Solace Womens Aid, Southall Black Sisters, Standing Together, Start Up Now, Stay Safe East, Suzy Lamplugh Trust, Tender, The Survivors Trust, Victim Support, White Ribbon Campaign, Women and Girls Network, Women In Prison, Womens Aid, Working Chance.
In addition, consultation with survivors including 15 focus groups with 133 survivors of Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG), 19 one-to-one interviews and an online survey with 90 respondents. There were also 400 face-to-face interviews with members of the public, 300 interviews with females and 100 with males across the areas of London where VAWG is most prevalent.

The Barclay Review

Navin Shah: In MQ2018/3219you said, “Whatbusinessesin London need is a fundamental review of thebusinessrates system – similar to theBarclay reviewnorth of the border – not more short-term fixes alongside devolution of the tax to London government so that we can design a property tax that reflects the capital’s unique circumstances and higher rents.” What changes, if any, would you like to see to thebusinessrates system in London?

The Mayor: I am committed to working with London boroughs and the Government, so that London’s government can take on greater powers over business rates and retain more of the income received. Devolution of powers could include the ability to lower the tax rate and reform business rates relief for small and medium sized firms to reflect the impact of the much higher rental levels in London. I am also lobbying for powers to control the revaluation and business rates appeals process locally so that it is fit for purpose and reflects London’s unique business environment. The majority of the recommendations of the Barclay review in Scotland have potential applicability in England.
In the short term, the incoming Government should consider further measures to support retailers and high streets, enabling empty premises to be brought back into use, and the case for exempting day nurseries and childcare providers entirely from business rates, to help reduce the cost of childcare for hard working families in England. This latter relief has already been introduced in both Scotland and Wales.

Cracked Trials 2

Tony Arbour: For each of the years Nov 16 to Oct 17, Nov 17 to Oct 18 and Nov 18 to Oct 19, please can you provide the number of ‘Cracked Trials’ for the reason that the police have failed to provide evidence?

The Mayor: As this question deals with ‘cracked trials’, the MPS is unable to provide a response. Information on cracked trials and other trial outcomes are held by the Crown Prosecution Service.

Croydon Schools Programme

Unmesh Desai: When will you be publishing findings or results of the Croydon schools programme piloted as part of your Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) strategy?

The Mayor: The Whole Schools Approach is a three-academic year pilot addressing gangs, serious youth violence (SYV) and violence against women and girls within the context of healthy relationships, resilience and enabling young people to make positive choices. The pilot is being delivered in four (one secondary and 3 primary) Croydon schools, and is due to end in September 2020. The evaluation is expected to be produced before the end of that calendar year.

The Metropolitan Police Service’s Plans for an Online Police Station (1)

Caroline Pidgeon: Although providing additional ways for victims of crime to report should be welcomed, it is crucially important that victims of crime are confident in the ability of online reporting systems to safely store their information, especially when we consider some of the most serious crimes. I would like to know what measures are being taken to ensure the new proposals for online reporting outlined by the Met Police will be resistant to hacking?

The Mayor: The MPS take online security extremely seriously and have measures in place. In particular, the security of data is given very high priority and the overall design of the Single Online Home (SOH) platform ensures victims data is protected as much as possible.
The platform as a whole is protected against denial of service attacks and covered by security monitoring services. It consists of segregated, firewalled, environments and networks restricting access to data from the internet. Online crime report data is received in the assured environment and then transferred to the elevated environment via a protocol break.
Once in the elevated environment data is stored and securely transferred over a secure police network via Email or Web services to forces.
The infrastructure is regularly penetration tested to validate the security of the platform against hacking.

The Metropolitan Police Service’s Plans for an Online Police Station (2)

Caroline Pidgeon: What guarantee do you give that the Online Police Station will not replace open front counters in every Borough for people to report face to face crimes?

The Mayor: The current public access offer has increased the ways in which Londoners can access the MPS, and brings together the existing telephone contact methods, which accounts for the majority of police contact, with new online ways of reporting for those who prefer the digital method of contact.
Face-to-face contact is an important option in the overall public access offer. In order to ensure that we continue to provide front counters across London for those people who chose this method of communication with officers, or for those who need to use a front counter, we will retain one 24-hour front counter in each borough.

Brothel raids 4

Andrew Boff: How many of the officers involved with the raids on brothels in Redbridge on 16th October were acquainted with the "National Policing Sex Work and Prostitution Guidance" from the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC)?

The Mayor: All officers involved with this raid were acquainted with the “National Policing Sex Work and Prostitution Guidance”.

Sex workers

Andrew Boff: Do you agree with the guidance from the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) that "The role of the police is not to encourage sex workers to exit the industry"?

The Mayor: The police are not best placed to support women around exiting prostitution. This work is best conducted by specialist agencies. Tackling prostitution needs a partnership approach in order to be truly effective. The police play a vital role in this and continue to work with us in trying to find the right response in London.

Brothel raids 2

Andrew Boff: How many Police officers were involved in the raids on brothels in Redbridge on 16th October?

The Mayor: The operation on 16th October took place over a number of different premises’, in total 21 police officers were involved throughout the day.

Brothel raids 3

Andrew Boff: Were the 15 women 'rescued' from brothels in the raids on brothels in Redbridge on 16th October taken into custody?

The Mayor: No, all women that were engaged with through this safeguarding operation were spoken to by safeguarding specialists away from police premises.

National Referral Mechanism (NRM) 2

Andrew Boff: How many referrals have there been to the NRM as result of the brothel raids in Redbridge on 16th October?

The Mayor: The MPS conducted Safeguarding operations on a number of premises in the area, involving various agencies working together to support vulnerable women. The women identified in these operations were not willing to be referred to the NRM.

Brothel raids

Andrew Boff: The joint operation between Redbridge Council and the Police resulted in raids on brothels on 16th October. The leader of the Council reportedly said "Our priority is to engage and support women to exit prostitution." What support will be given to those of the 15 women detained who do not wish to exit prostitution?

The Mayor: I cannot speak on behalf of Redbridge council. My office for policing and crime (MOPAC) supports an extensive portfolio of commissioned services that are accessible to vulnerable victims and survivors. Many of these are pan London and operate in Redbridge.

The Loops

Andrew Boff: Will the Police be supportive of testing centres for illegal drugs being established such as those provided by "The Loop" at festivals?

The Mayor: I am supportive of any work undertaken to educate and raise awareness about the harmful effects of drug use. The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) Drug Strategy focusses on reducing harm, supply and demand, and in doing this the MPS is committed to working with key partners such as the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC), Public Health England (PHE), National Crime Agency (NCA), charities and others to reduce crime and prevent harm.
The MPS already works with organisations who test drugs seized or surrendered at festivals and in the Night-time Economy to help keep communities safe and will continue to look at the ways in which other forces collaborate with partners to reduce harm. This testing focuses on seized drugs which are not returned to the user, but the results inform police and health partners as to the potential additional harms of drugs in circulation in a location.

National Referral Mechanism (NRM) 1

Andrew Boff: How many street sex workers operating near Ilford Lane have been referred to the NRM?

The Mayor: The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) work closely with Redbridge Council, and various other charities to safeguard women who have been forced into sex work. The number of referrals made to the NRM is not readily available as referrals are made by outreach workers.

Stolen firearms

Susan Hall: For each of the years Nov 16 to Oct 17, Nov 17 to Oct 18 and Nov 18 to Oct 19, please can you provide the number of licensed firearms that have been stolen?

The Mayor: Please find the attached the annex from the Met, highlighting the number of firearms or air weapons recorded as stolen between the required years.

Road pricing (1)

Gareth Bacon: If elected for a second mayoral term, do you intend to pursue the roll-out of road pricing across London?

The Mayor: My approach to paying for road use is set out in my Transport Strategy. In summary, this states that Transport for London (TfL) keeps the Congestion Charge and other road user charges under review, including investigating whether there are ways to better reflect distance driven, emissions, time and road danger in an integrated way.
Following the introduction of the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) in April of this year, TfL is now preparing for the tightening of the Low Emission Zone standards in October 2020 and the expansion of the ULEZ to inner London in October 2021. I’m clear that this is our first priority in relation to road user charging. The expanded ULEZ will bring huge air quality benefits but is also a challenging scheme to deliver at this scale.

Road pricing (2)

Gareth Bacon: What is your current impact assessment of road pricing on low income Londoners and those living in outer boroughs?

The Mayor: In 2014, as part of the consultation on the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ), Transport for London (TfL) commissioned an integrated impact assessment of the proposals. A further integrated impact assessment was undertaken in 2017 to understand the impacts of an expanded ULEZ and stronger Low Emission Zone. Both of these documents can be found on the TfL website, here: https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/publications-and-reports/ultra-low-emission-zone
On 23 October, I launched a £25m car and motorcycle scrappage scheme to help low income and disabled Londoners scrap older, more polluting cars and motorcycles in favour of cleaner vehicles and greener forms of transport to help clean London’s toxic air. The ULEZ car and motorcycle scrappage scheme is open to those who live within the 32 London boroughs or the City of London and receive certain means-tested and non means-tested disability benefits. They will be able to apply for a grant to scrap vehicles that don't meet the ULEZ emissions standards. More details on the scheme are available here: https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/driving/ultra-low-emission-zone/car-and-motorcycle-scrappage-scheme

Met courses

Susan Hall: Please provide a list of the titles and costs of all training and development programmes offered to Met police and staff. Please also include a brief description of each course.

The Mayor: The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) provides an extremely broad variety of training covering everything from new recruits to specialist functions in accordance with the standards and policing practice set by the College of Policing.
It would require a disproportionate use of police resources to collate and set out the level of detail requested.

University sex attacks

Andrew Boff: Further to the the night-time economy sex attacks question, please provide a breakdown of the number of sexual assaults and rapes committed at London universities by month for the same period?

The Mayor: Please see the attached spreadsheet.

Air pollution health emergencies (1)

Leonie Cooper: What discussions have you had with Public Health England and the NHS regarding the data showing spikes in heart attacks and strokes on days with high air pollution in London?

The Mayor: I recently launched the London Health and Care Vision alongside NHS London, Public Health England and London Councils. Improving air quality is one of the tenkey areas of focus in the London Vision where partnership working at a pan-London level will help reduce inequalities, improve health outcomes and contribute to the goal of making London the healthiest global city.
I regularly meet with the Regional Directors of NHS London and PHE London and have discussed the issue of air quality and their contributions to this agenda. Both organisations are supportive of the leadership I have shown in improving air quality through bold policies such as the Ultra Low Emission Zone.
My officials also meet regularly with both bodies and will be meeting with them in the near future to discuss the latest data, including on heart attacks and strokes. In addition, both the NHS and PHE are represented on the London Resilience Forum, which helps to disseminate the pan-London alerts when air quality is particularly poor (Please see my response to Mayor’s Question 2019/20448).

Small sites (1)

Siân Berry: The Planning Inspectorate’s Report of the Examination in Public of the London Plan 2019 advises you to: “reduce the ten year small site housing targets for boroughs to give a total of 119,250 dwellings (rather than 245,730) and as a consequence reduce the overall housing targets for boroughs to give a total of 522,850 dwellings (rather than 649,350).” Which boroughs have so far identified enough small sites to meet either the requirements of your new London Plan or the reduced targets?

The Mayor: The small sites targets in the draft London Plan form a component of the boroughs’ overall housing targets. While some small sites will be identified in local development plans (and the Plan encourages this) small sites generally form part of boroughs’ windfall sites, which are not specifically identified in their local development plans.
Small sites have made an important contribution to delivery across London, particularly in inner London, for many years. Some boroughs however, are yet to fully utilise these sites as a source of supply. My aim is to ensure that all boroughs realise the opportunities available from small sites and are proactive in bringing them forward for development. To assist, I am developing guidance on design codes that will help boroughs optimise capacity from small sites in future.